COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Thursday marks a decade since the Confederate flag that flew over the grounds of the South Carolina State House was permanently lowered.
The decision came following a racially-motivated mass shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, but the saga behind the flag’s decades on display reveals a divisive past.
For nearly 40 years, the flag flew atop the dome of the South Carolina State House. It was first raised in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War.
The next year, state lawmakers passed a law requiring it to stay there…